Search for vanished student in SoCal scaled back

CASTAIC, Calif., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said they were disappointed they found no sign of a missing motorist three weeks after his wrecked vehicle was found.

The search for Bryce Laspisa of Laguna Niguel has been scaled back after a thorough search of the desert near Castaic Lake turned up no clues as to his whereabouts, officials said.

"When you look at the lengths we've gone to find Bryce Laspisa, we feel terrible for the missing and we feel terrible for the family and friends," Sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker told the Los Angeles Times. "It's a tragedy he has not been found and the unknowns that go along with that. Frankly, it breaks our hearts too."

Laspisa was driving home from college in Northern California Aug. 30 when he called from the road and told his parents, Michael and Karen Laspisa, and informed them he was pulling off Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles to take a quick nap.

The next morning, Laspisa's SUV was found on its side in a ravine near the lake. Laspisa's wallet and cellphone were in the vehicle, but there was no sign of the driver.

The Times said Sunday that tracking dogs followed a scent in the direction of the lake, but lost it. The lake was searched as were trails and stretches of difficult brushy terrain.

"Every day you go through the whole scenario of the 85 possible things that could have caused it and the three to four conclusions from success to failure in terms of finding him alive," Michael Laspisa told the newspaper.

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